Cactus Partners

How Cactus Partners' Growth Playbook Drives Valuations and Success for its Portfolio Establishing an internal growth-acceleration-playbook (GAP) as referred to by Rajeev Kalambi, general partner at Cactus Partners, has helped the firm assist its portfolio companies in bridging the gap between the promised potential and the actual performance during their investment period. "There are different aspects to this like tech-based scaling, effective branding and marketing, organization design, and finding the right people for the right job. We find the right people for them to fill gaps in their organizational structure. And related to that, we help them with their systems, processes, policies, and governance. Governance is very critical for us," Kalambi explained in a conversation with Entrepreneur India. Kalambi also recalled the over-valuation frenzy of the early 2020s with subsequent governance issues and said that the "dust has now settled." The modus operandi of Cactus is helping companies put the governance systems in place with required boards and committees, preferably at the series A stage or beyond. Rajeev Kalambi, Cactus Partners Read more: https://lnkd.in/g2TfDN6s #CactusPartners #GrowthPlaybook #StartupSuccess #CorporateGovernance #TechScaling #EffectiveBranding #StartupEcosystem #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #SeriesAFunding #Leadership #BusinessStrategy #OrganizationalDesign #StartupGrowth

Our General Partner, Rajeev Kalambi, was recently featured in Entrepreneur India, sharing insights into our Growth-Acceleration-Playbook (GAP) and how we help portfolio companies bridge the gap between the promised potential and performance. From enabling tech-based scaling and strengthening governance to supporting international expansion, Rajeev highlights the thoughtful strategies that have driven success for our portfolio companies. At Cactus Partners, we believe success stems from the right combination of strategy, structure, and scaling. Rajeev’s insights are a testament to how we bridge the gap between vision and execution. You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g2TfDN6s #funding #venturecapital

We are delighted to share our latest investment in ParkMate In, a smart parking solutions company redefining urban mobility through innovative parking solutions. Co-founded by Dhananjaya Bharadwaj and Abhimanyu Singh, Parkmate offers a smart platform that simplifies car parking through innovative technology, ensuring a seamless experience for users. By leveraging technology, they are making cities smarter and more connected. We are excited to partner with Parkmate as they scale their operations and transform how people navigate urban spaces. https://lnkd.in/gnVRrh6x #cactuspartners #fundingalert #parkingsolutions #funding

Last Wednesday at SuperReturn Middle East Namit Chugh and I had a freewheeling chat on the role Middle Eastern capital could play in emerging markets. Having lived and worked in the UAE for half a decade as a fund manager and pitched to several local LPs across two fundraising roadshows my key takeaway is that Middle Eastern LPs are conservative - they believe in capital preservation even when allocating to alternative assets class. Which is why ME allocations have typically found their way to the developed US and EU markets. One also notices that ME investments into new age businesses in India typically comprise large cheques (~USD100Mn) in late stage (Series D, E, F) "startups" ostensibly in the belief that later stage investments were safer bets. The ME is gradually turning the spotlight inwards to provide an impetus to its non-oil related fledgling private sector (eg KSA, Oman) and to emerging economies in the MENA region. But, I don't see the ME countries venturing into South Asia and SE Asia. Isn't this a missed opportunity given that India and some SE Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines etc are together going to drive a major proportion of global GDP growth (as per the World Bank)? Hopefully, ME capital will wizen up and increase its India exposure but not only with few large late-stage cheques (which are also necessary for the growth of the ecosystem) but with several, and frequent, small and medium sized investments, across funds and startups, across stages. This will enable them to get to know the Indian market better and create a form of reciprocal symbiosis where their capital will benefit Indian startups and they could get dual returns in the form of pecuniary returns as well as the ability to tap India's R&D and innovation for the ME markets.

My friend and Indian School of Business senior Rajeev Kalambi (at Cactus Partners) and I had a freewheeling chat on Middle East as capital & technology hub for Southeast Asia at SuperReturn Middle East last week. Our thoughts:   1] LPs are looking for reverse innovation - technologies and companies coming from India/US to MENA. This can be achieved by: -- Fund joint ventures: Middle East LPs taking GP stakes in India (we have only a handful of such examples) -- Operating Joint Ventures: Companies from India setting up operations in middle east (more on this from us in a few months!)   2] Capital allocation: Middle east capital is a little risk averse when it comes to early stage allocation while extremely bullish on de-risked $100M+ Series D/E bets and allocation to Private Equity funds. There are conflicting impulses at play here - risk aversion vs catalytic developments.   Hopefully, Middle East capital will increase its India exposure and create a symbiotic innovation corridor.  #healthcare #VC #investing

2021 was clearly an outlier year for the minting of unicorns. Will we see another year or a string of years where 20-25+ unicorns will get created? And will this valuations sustain? I'm doubtful but happy to be proven wrong. Presenting an article I wrote that found favour with the kind folks at Entrepreneur India who agreed to publish it. Do let me know your views on the subject.

Excited to share that our General Partner, Rajeev Kalambi, was featured in the October edition of Entrepreneur India Magazine. In the article, "The Quest for Unicorns," Rajeev talks about the evolving startup landscape and what it really takes for unicorns to thrive in today's market. Check out the article below! #unicorn #startups

In a recent interview with DealStreetAsia, our General Partner, Amit Sharma, highlighted Cactus Partners' outlook on exit opportunities as India's IPO market surges. With one-third of our portfolio companies poised for public listings, we are excited about their future potential. As Amit mentioned, "It's about building relationships early" and strategically positioning our portfolio for the right opportunities - whether through IPOs or key partnerships. Read the article below to learn more about our journey, recent investments, and future plans: https://lnkd.in/dJ8jgCrB #ipo #venturecapital

First times are always special. We, at Cactus Partners, recently hosted our first Annual Investor Meet (AIM) in Mumbai. The event brought together our LPs, portfolio founders, and industry specialists to reflect on the fund’s development and achievements thus far as well as for some insightful discussions on a myriad of topics from scaling companies to timing fundraises to expanding brands globally to promoters providing investors exits to finding white spaces in established sectors. The update on the fund’s performance, portfolio companies’ progress and fund strategy provided by our General Partners - Rajeev Kalambi, Anurag Goel, and Amit Sharma - dovetailed well with the outlook on the venture capital ecosystem presented by Aditya Shukla, Partner at Bain & Company. The highlight of the event was an insightful discussion with Rajat Verma, CEO of LOHUM Cleantech, on “The Making of Lohum”. Priyanka Modi, Co-Founder of AMPM, and Deepak Agarwal, CEO of AURIC shared their strategy on how they are taking their consumer brands global.  Another captivating panel discussion was on “The Exit Dilemma” in which Gaurav Deepak, Co-founder & CEO of Avendus and serial entrepreneur, Sudhakar Goverdhanam clarified the difference between providing investors with an exit versus founders exiting a business, and how value creation underlies either choice. Rishab Puri, Co-Founder of Indigrid joined other eminent panelists to discuss how they identify white spaces and the impact of Make in India. No event is complete without some insights on SaaS! - Shailesh Kekre moderated the session with Mrinal Sinha, Founder of Vitraya and Vikas Garg, Co-Founder of Kapture CX outlining what it takes to build a USD 100 million ARR SaaS Business from India.  The event marked a momentous occasion for our firm, investors, and portfolio companies and we are grateful to all our speakers and partners for helping make this first event a remarkable success.

Our General Partner, Rajeev Kalambi, will be speaking at SuperReturn Middle East 2024 taking place on 14-16 October in Dubai. Rajeev will be part of the fireside chat on the topic Building bridges: Middle East and Emerging Markets alongwith Namit Chugh. #SRME #Superreturn